Fridge Power consumption?

Plis49 · Mar 23, 2015

Hi, I sm looking for the power consumption, watts etc,,, for the fridge in my California 2012 model? As part of Trying to work out solar panel specs to keep fridge running for 12 days, with no electric link up. Thanks for any feedback.

GrannyJen · Mar 23, 2015

When my fridge works it draws about 3Ah off the battery, if that helps

MattBW · Jun 23, 2015

I have a little spreadsheet that I used to work out what solar panels I needed on my T25 camper van. I have an 80w panel and with a waeco cf40 I get 4 or 5 days use out of an 85ah battery without hookup before the battery protection cut off kicks in. The fridge stayed cold for a few days after however as the battery topped up in the daytime.

It won't use 3ah all the time, so tends to average out lower. If I bought panels again I would go for 120 or 150w, from my calculations 150w would probably ensure I didn't need hookup at all.

I can share the spreadsheet tomorrow if you are interested.

MattBW · Jun 24, 2015

I tried to upload my excel file but it won't be accepted. I will see if I can host it somewhere and post a link if that is allowed. For now here is a screenshot of what I did.

Compressor fridges are very efficient and although they use 3AH that is not constant, thats only when the compressor runs. The websites for the fridges have the hourly averages on and I would use those for more accurate calculations.

My file uses excel to roughly (I'm no expert) to calculate your leisure battery and solar needs. I have an 80w panel but I now know for my useage with a compressor fridge in my T25 that I use more than I can generate. Before the fridge change I never needed hook up. I added the average Ah drain for each item, the output for the panel and the hours each item would be used in a 24 hour period.

So in my case I am generating 28ah in an 8 hour day but using 36.7ah, hence I am draining 8.7ah every day. On day 5 I would have used half of my 85ah battery which is a generally accepted cut off point to stop any battery damage. This means I am slowly running down my leisure battery over time. Obviously in summer there is more daylight than winter so these will change with the seasons.

I did work out that if I had a 120w panel I would just about generate more than I used. 150w I would rarely if ever need hookup again even with my waeco fridge running

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jts46 · Jun 24, 2015

Plis49 said:
Hi, I sm looking for the power consumption, watts etc,,, for the fridge in my California 2012 model? As part of Trying to work out solar panel specs to keep fridge running for 12 days, with no electric link up. Thanks for any feedback.

Are you going to be in one place for 12 days?

John

dannosail · Jun 24, 2015

The safe discharge level for flooded batteries (old style plate batteries) is generally given as 50% but the OEM (Varta) batteries fitted to the Cali are AGM (Absorbed Glass Matt) batteries. Most tests accept that these can be discharged as much as 80% without affecting the overall cycle life of the battery. I would therefore factor in a greater discharge rate into the calculation.

I've not done a spreadsheet like MattBW and don't have a TV, but through a warm British summer without limiting my consumption, I have achieved 5.5 days and only discharge 75-80%.

I have got an electric sliding door so there is more of a risk I won't be able to start the van after 5 days unless I switch to manual! :talktothehand

MattBW · Jun 25, 2015

Thanks Dannosail, thats really useful, I didnt know about the batteries in the Cali until I read that. I do love solar on my t25 but Im not sure I will need it on the Cali from what you have said.

Any idea how long they take to charge?

dannosail · Jun 25, 2015

Sorry, not sure on charging time and since batteries can be recharged at different rates I'm not sure how accurate any estimate I make would be.

dannosail · Jun 25, 2015

...even if I could remember what I was taught many years ago!

campandfly · Jun 26, 2015

What setting do you generally use on your fridges. We use 4 for keeping drinks nice and cold, 3 if its only general food items and Max when we need to brings things down as quick as poss. We try to keep the setting as low as poss to conserve power.

MattBW · Jun 26, 2015

Mine is the Waeco CF-40 has the freezer compartment and I found around 5c was fine but 3c or 4c made the beer bottles have that nice condensation on it which makes it seem colder

Learned quickly not to be tempted to put it on minus figures, these things are far better than coolers.

edit: updated to show it was temp setting i used.

campandfly · Jun 26, 2015

MattBW said:
Mine is the Waeco CF-40 has the freezer compartment and I found around 5 was fine but 3 or 4 made the beer bottles have that nice condensation on it which makes it seem colder Learned quickly not to be tempted to put it on minus figures, these things are far better than coolers.

+1 for Waeco fridges yes they are great and will freeze things super quick if needed.

My numbers above were quoted for the Cali SE standard fridge though.